I bought a Trimmer mower yesterday. I was actually supposed to buy it last week, but the person selling it said he noticed a gas smell, so he took it in. He took it to a reputable shop which supposedly found the problem within 5 minutes. They cleaned the carb, changed the oil, charged him $50 and sent him on his way. I have the receipt dated 5/28/2010.

Now I have the mower. I ran it last night for an hour, put it in the garage, and was almost knocked out by the fumes when I went into the garage late last night. I opened the door to the garage and put a box fan in the garage in order to avoid a disaster.

So, if in fact the shop did "fix" the carb last week, what are my possible options? It has to either be the fuel line or the gas tank, correct? I can find no wetness anywhere, just a very strong gas fume smell, as if someone spilled about a cup of gas on the floor in my garage.

Could it be there there is debris in the gas tank that reclogged the carb? Other than the the fuel ine and gas tank, there's nothing else in the system that touches gas, correct?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Heintooga

06-02-2010, 08:35 PM

May we presume that it has a shot-off valve and that you're using it? If the odor is that srong I would check the tank, cap, hoses and connections for leaks. Any visible gas on the deck from drips?

cgaengineer

06-02-2010, 11:10 PM

Is the float bowl leaking? It is also possible that the needle valve is not seating and the carb is filling with fuel. I would also check the fuel lines.

tsheehan7

06-03-2010, 09:09 AM

It does have a shut off valve (controlled by a lever below the choke) and I am using it. I assumed that the shop that checked it Friady would have checked the float bowl and needle valve, but maybe I shouldn't assume. I didn't have a chance to check it last night but I will tonight.

Jason Rose

06-03-2010, 09:33 AM

Probably the O ring on the float bowl. My honda on my permagreen leaks as well. Should be an easy fix, tho I've yet to mess with mine, I just turn the fuel valve off. Not a bad practice anyway.
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tsheehan7

06-03-2010, 09:41 AM

Probably the O ring on the float bowl. My honda on my permagreen leaks as well. Should be an easy fix, tho I've yet to mess with mine, I just turn the fuel valve off. Not a bad practice anyway.
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Jason, is your fuel valve the sliding lever below the choke? I want to make sure I'm not missing the "actual" fuel valve. The reason I ask is that I have that fuel lever in the off position, but I still smell the gas.

Jason Rose

06-03-2010, 10:09 AM

Yes that's the shutoff. And on mine I have no fuel smell with the valve oFf. If the valve isn't stopping the smell it may be leaking elsewhere. The leak on mine is so small it doesn't drip, the only indication of a leak is the smell really.
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drumz2129

06-03-2010, 01:03 PM

One way to see if it is the carb over filling is to turn the fuel off and run the engine until it dies. That will drain the float bowl. If it still smells then look at the fuel cap and seams on the tank and make sure they are still sealed.

tsheehan7

06-22-2010, 02:24 PM

First off, drumz I always do what you suggest. Shut off the fuel and let the engine "run out of gas" so to speak.

I couldn't get rid of the smell so I took the mower to another shop. They said the carburetor was flooding. They rebuilt it, charged me $56 and sent me on my way. The gas smell was obvious before I even got the mower home. I cut the grass last night, let the mower sit on the driveway for a half-hour, and put it in my garage. Within an hour the smell of gas in the garage was super strong again. If two separate (and reputable) shops have told me they've fixed the problem but it's still not fixed, what do I do?